Taxi age limit consultation

Caroline Pidgeon: Has TfL undertaken an evaluation of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association’s alternative proposals to reducing the age limit of taxis which would convert almost all Euro V taxis to Euro VI standard using funds from the taxi delicensing scheme?

The Mayor: Yes, Transport for London (TfL) evaluated the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA)’s alternative proposal and discussed it with them in detail. The 2017 Air Quality Plan requires London to be compliant by or before 2025 and includes 9,000 Zero Emission Capable taxis being licenced by December 2020; equivalent to a 65 per cent reduction in NOx taxi emissions in central London by 2025. TfL’s proposals achieve this reduction.
TfL modelled the LTDA’s alternative on a like for like basis with its consultation proposals. In comparison, the retrofit programme would not achieve greater NOx savings than TfL’s proposals, and misses the 2025 NOx reduction target by 10 per cent. The LTDA proposed that their retrofit solution would perform better, which TfL re-modelled. While it achieved the necessary 2025 reduction there is a significant risk that performance will not meet the required standard, and coupled with the fact that there is currently no approved retrofit available and it would take at least a year to be ready, there was no certainty that the LTDA’s solution could be delivered as proposed.
TfL will work with the LTDA as they develop their proposed Euro 5 retrofit solution. If an appropriate retrofit is developed, tested and approved in future that delivers the required Euro 6 emissions we will consider how it can be incorporated into taxi age limit and licensing requirements.